After two hospital births, with our older daughters, my husband and I decided that if we ever had more children, we would like to have them at home. We aren’t entirely sure why. We just felt extremely uncomfortable in the hospital setting. When we were blessed with our 3rd daughter, we were grateful to have found Michelle and Jes, when they were with CMS. I had an instant connection with Jes and Michelle. I felt comfortable with them. I felt safe with them. All of the midwives were great there, but I truly felt Jes and Michelle were MY midwives. I kept telling my husband I was worried that one of them would not be at the birth. I wanted one of them. I didn’t care who, but I wanted one of them there. So the evening my labor began, I was overjoyed to find out Michelle was on call, I instantly felt a sense of peace run over me. I can still hear her calm sweet voice talking me through and encouraging me through my birth. I had a fast and furious labor and Piper Monroe was born in my bath tub on June 16, 2014. Everything went beautifully with the birth. Afterwards, I had a stubborn placenta which was causing some abnormal bleeding. Michelle had to do a manual extraction of the placenta in order to control the bleeding. It was a very scary situation, but she knew exactly what to do. She stayed completely calm and confident and everything went fine. Sometimes in birth, things don’t go exactly like planned, but when you have complete confidence in your birth team, there is no greater feeling.

A year after Piper was born, my husband and I decided to add one final member to our family. We knew that we couldn’t do this pregnancy and birth without our trusted and beloved Michelle and Jes. So when they started Mosaic, there was no question that we were going with’em!!!! So at 36 weeks, I believe, I transferred our care fully to Mosaic Midwifery.

This pregnancy was very low key. It was easy and wonderful. We chose not to find out the sex of our baby this time, since this was our last baby. We wanted to experience the BIG surprise. We were surprised on March 5th, 3 days before our due date, when my water broke. All of my girls came after their due date. I called Michelle to give her a heads up. It was about 10:30pm. We decided that since I wasn’t contracting yet, we would all try and get a little sleep and wait for labor to begin. Of course, no one in my house could sleep. We were all too excited for the baby to come so we could finally see if it was another precious little girl, or our first baby boy!

My contractions started around 12:30, but didn’t get intense until around 2:00 am. That is when I called the midwives and my photographer. This is also when I told my husband to start filling the pool we bought for the birth. Everyone arrived pretty quickly. It was nice that Jes and Michelle already knew where I lived and how to get there, because they had been coming for my prenatal visits. While Jes and their assistant, Jessi, set up their things, Michelle checked my cervix. By this time my contractions were more intense and getting uncomfortable. I was shocked when she said I was only 3 centimeters dilated. I thought for sure I was an 8, ha!!! That’s why cervix checks can be counterproductive. It wasn’t long after that check, that I was feeling pressure to push. Michelle said I could feel for myself to see if baby was coming down. And sure enough, I could feel baby’s head. After a few more contractions, my baby was born into my arms at 4:16 am. I went from 3 centimeters dilated to baby in my arms in about an hour. And to this day, I say that just the mere presence of my amazing birth team was enough to relax me and tell my brain and baby that we were safe and it was ok to come.

After, several minutes loving on my brand new, fresh from the oven squish, Michelle helped me turn that little baby wrapped in a towel, who at this moment, had no gender. It was just this tiny human who was loved no matter what. Who was perfect and precious. I peeled back the towel to discover a perfectly placed PENIS. It’s a boy!!! The room erupted with shouts of joy. I love that I was able to have my older daughters, Rian and Mylee, there. Along with my sisters and my mom, and of course my wonderful supportive husband. But I am beyond blessed to have had the DREAM TEAM, Jes, Michelle, and Jessi with Mosaic Midwifery. They stayed several hours after the birth and helped us all get snuggled into bed with our new baby boy, Nash Shepherd. He was 9lbs 10oz and absolutely perfect. I have already started referring my friends, who are interested in home birth to Mosaic. These ladies love what they do. They are so confident and knowledgeable. They are like an old friend who you know would always be there for you if you needed them.

They really are the dream team in midwifery. Nash is our last baby, but if I was ever to add “just one more”, they would be the first phone call made. Happy birthing mommas! Happy Birthing!!!